


Butterfly Caught

by serpentandlily



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Child Abuse, Childhood Trauma, Family Drama, Other, Past Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:34:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27782308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serpentandlily/pseuds/serpentandlily
Summary: With the old world gone, Lily Harper Dixon finds herself having to rely on her older brothers to keep her alive. But she was on a mission herself...and no one was going to get in her way.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	1. From Here on Out

Daryl Dixon had always felt some resentment towards his younger sibling. Lily Harper Dixon was everything that her name implied; a Southern Gem. She was the Dixon's crowning jewel; a beacon in the trash that was their family. And his father treated her like such. She was his little girl; his perfect child. If that man was capable of love there was only one person in the world to ever receive any and that was Lily. So while he cherished her, bought her lavish gifts they could hardly afford and made sure she was taken care of, her two other siblings were only left in her shadow. And once she was asleep, only then would they get any attention from him. Only it was done by heavy punches and kicks, twisted words and heartbreak.

But Daryl could hardly blame the girl who was fifteen years younger than him. Anyone would fall in love with the fifteen year old if they had the chance. She was a charmer with her silky sandy blonde hair, smooth skin and cobalt eyes framed with long lashes that were nearly identical to his. They were the only thing that proved they came from the same father. Her mother had been some waitress his father had some bender with. She took off the moment Lily was born leaving the child with just a picture and ugly questions about why her mother didn't want her. I 

But her father had provided enough love to soothe all her worries eventually.

He had filled all her holes and scars but only created them for Daryl and his brother Merle. Which is why Daryl had never been exactly close with his little sister. She didn't belong with him and his brother. She hadn't faced the things in life they had. She wasn't filled with the same anger and rage like he was because of his father. But she was family. And like Merle always said, "Yer kin is yer kin. Can't chose who ya' related to but ya' gotta' stay loyal. We're Dixon's. And when yer a Dixon ain't nobody gonna' give a crap 'bout ya'. So we stick together. Ya' hear me, brother? We stick together."

But even Lily had been Merle's favorite. He never laid a hand on his younger sister even when he was on one of his meth spins and used Daryl as his personal punching bag. But not a hair had been touched on the girl's head. Though Lily never stuck around much when Merle was using. She was too scared, so easily terrified. She hadn't been brought up like them.

"Daryl." He heard a voice and felt a finger prod his side.

He grumbled in response, throwing his tanned, toned arm over his eyes as he felt his head begin to pound. He was hung over alright. So very hung over. He could barely remember last night but the ache in his shoulders indicated he had probably gotten into some bar fight. When he felt another shove he opened his eyes, blinking a few times to get adjusted to the light. He moved his arm away from his eyes and was met with the sight of his little sister standing over him.

Her long hair tickled his nose and he pushed it away with his hand before sitting up.

"What are ya' doin' here?" He grunted, holding his head in his hands.

"Daddy went to work." She replied. "I watched the news last night and some scary things are happenin'. I didn't wanna' be alone."

"So ya' just invited yerself over?" Daryl mumbled, feeling slightly annoyed.

"Merle picked me up." She replied, sitting on the couch next to her brother.

"Fucker let ya' on his bike?" Daryl asked in shock. Merle hardly let anyone ride with him on his bike.

"He used your truck." She answered.

Daryl rolled his eyes, now fully annoyed that Merle had borrowed his truck to pick up Lily without even asking and let her into the house to wake him up. He just wanted to go back to sleep and fight off this pounding headache.

"I brought you aspirin." Lily said, smiling at him. She held up a brown paper bag and rattled it. He could hear the pills. He snatched it out of her hand quickly, yanking out the bottle and grabbing two pills.

"Need water?" His sister asked and he only nodded his head.

She got up from her spot on the couch and went into their dingy kitchen. The sink was full of plates and other eating utensils. It smelled of mold and rotten food, making her pinch her nose in disgust.

"Don't ya'll clean up once in awhile 'round here?" She shouted out.

"Do I look like a women to ya'?" Was Daryl's response.

Lily huffed in annoyance and dug out a glass from the bottom of the pile. She began to wash it.

"Merle told me ya' got in some fight at the bar last night over some pool game." She stated.

"Merle gossips with ya' more than them ole' ladies down the street." Daryl grumbled.

Lily filled the glass with water from the tap and walked back to the couch, handing it to Daryl. He placed the pills in his mouth and downed nearly half of the water.

"You need to be more careful, Daryl." Lily said, grabbing his shoulder and pushing him forward a little so she could see his newly forming bruise. "You're gonna' get hurt real bad one of these times."

"Who cares?" Daryl snorted to himself only to have Lily wrap an arm around his shoulders and mess up his hair with her other hand.

"I care, ya' big jerk." She snapped. "You are my favorite but don't tell Merle that."

Daryl just shoved her away with a glare causing her to giggle at his expression.

"Shuddup." He said, but his voice lacked any annoyance. "Now what was this 'bout the news scarin' ya'?"

"Don't ya' ever watch the news?" She asked in disbelief.

Daryl just scoffed and waved her question away, "Got more important stuff to do."

Lily rolled her eyes, "Sure you do."

Daryl shot her another glare, "Are ya' gonna' answer my question or what?"

The snotty expression on her face dropped and she stared down at her hands for a minute, "I dunno'. I guess, well there's this flu goin' around and the doctors can't seem to control it. They said it's makin' all the patients go crazy. Some guy bit one of the nurses just last week in the county over."

"And that's why yer scared to be alone?" Daryl asked.

"Well, I was just thinkin'." She replied. "'Bout you and Merle. And Daddy. I don't want none of ya'll to catch it. They had to kill some guy because he was goin' all sorts of crazy. I just don't want that to happen to you. Any of you."

Daryl sighed feeling his headache begin to fade away now that the pills were taking effect. He looked over at his younger sister who was staring up at him in worry. She cared about them. She always had. And he cared about her as well despite that fact that he had always been a little jealous and bitter about her. But he was a grown man now. And she was still just a kid. Hearing her so scared tugged at his stomach.

He grabbed her shoulders, pulling her against him in a comforting gesture. He had never been good at comforting her when they were little. Every time she cried either his father had taken over or Merle. The most he had offered her was a pat on the shoulder or a ruffle of her hair. But every once and a while she had broken down when only he was around. And he had gotten better at it. But he would never admit it to anyone.

"Hey, ain't none of us going anywhere, Harper." Daryl reassured.

Lily folded in his embrace, knowing it was a rare moment from her brother. She turned her head into his shoulder.

"You're the only one who calls me that." She mumbled into his skin. "Makes me sound like a boy."

Daryl felt a chuckle vibrate from the back of his throat.

"Ya'll act like ya' hate each other." Merle's voice suddenly interrupted the moment as he walked into the trailer. "Moment I leave and ya'll are all cuddlin' up on the coach. Since when ya' such a pussy, Daryl? Didn't I teach ya' betta'?"

Daryl pulled away from her as if he had been scorched while Lily huffed again.

"That's because Daryl doesn't wanna' hurt your feelings when you realize he likes me better than you." Lily scoffed.

"Don't try n' start that, girly." Merle yelped. "Me n' yer brother are men. Ain't no girl gonna' come between us. Not even you."

"I don't see any men 'round here." Lily gave Merle one of her killer Dixon smiles. "Just some lazy boys who never grew a pair."

"Ya' gonna' let her talk 'bout us like that, Daryl?" Merle quipped as he set down some bags of alcohol on the counter and shrugged off his leather biker jacket.

"Hey, you taught her how to be a spitfire." Daryl replied. "Ya' can't be mad when she comes back to bit ya' in the ass."

"Yer right." Merle said. "I did teach ya' all I know, Lils. Ya' better respect yer older brother."

"Please, as if you had anything to teach me." Lily retorted making Daryl laugh under his breath. If he talked to Merle the way she did, he would surely get his ass handed to him on a silver platter.

Merle grabbed a chunk of Lily's hair and tugged on it, not enough to seriously hurt her but hard enough to jerk her head back.

"Merle!" She whined loudly causing both brothers to laugh this time. "I just got my hair done yesterday. You're going to ruin it!"

"Looks the same to me." Merle shrugged. "Where'd ya' find the money to go yer hair done all fancy anyways?"

Lily soothed out a few strands of her newly highlighted blonde hair, "Hannah's mom works at the beauty salon. She did it for free."

"Good. Ya' don't need to be wastin' money on stupid shit like that." Merle grumbled. "Yer hair looks just fine."

"Was that a compliment, Merly?" Lily giggled.

Merle glared at her, "Call me that again and I'll string yer neck."

Lily held her hands up in surrender when Daryl didn't back her up.

"Why don't ya' make yerself useful and go clean up the kitchen?" Daryl cut in.

"I'm not yer maid." Lily replied, crossing her arms.

"Don't ya' wanna' learn to be a good wife?" Merle sided with Daryl.

"Don't ya' wanna' learn to be anything but a lazy asshole?" Lily snapped.

"Aye', watch yer language. Pretty girls don't talk like that." Merle scolded. "Go clean. Now."

Daryl watched with amusement as Lily pouted immaturely and walked off to go clean the dishes in the kitchen. It was not uncommon to see Merle treat her parental. He seemed to take her under his wing sometimes, similar to how he treated Daryl when he was younger. And Lily listened to him for most of the time. On the occasion she would disregard what he said but she knew ultimately, Merle's word as almost in the same league as her father's. Daryl had never tried to parent her or anything. It was uncomfortable for him. But that meant whenever she was annoyed by Merle or their dad, she would come find Daryl to complain to.

But he didn't mind sitting around and listening to her. She was his sister after all. He had watched her grow up and had been there for her even though their father played favorites so harshly.

"Don't forget to scrub real nice!" Merle yelled out to her. "Don't want no dirt in ma' food latter."

A spoon flew over Daryl's head to smack against Merle's skull. The older man yelped in surprise as the spoon fell to the floor. He picked it up and glared at the girl in the kitchen.

Well, she might be charming and sweet but she was still a Dixon on the inside.

**

Daryl grunted a little as he lifted up the few rabbits and raccoons he had managed to catch and tossed them into the bed of his truck. He leaned back down to grab his backpack before fumbling with the keys to unlock the door. He slid his bag into the passenger seat and hopped into his truck. As soon as the engine roared to life, he peeled out of the forest and made his way down the dirt trail back to the highway.

Once on the main highway, he tuned his radio in, tired of the silence.

"Any of the non-infected in the Northern Georgia region, please report to Atlanta. I repeat, all non-infected in the Northern Georgia region, please report to the safety zones in Atlanta City."

'Non-infected?', Daryl thought, 'Is this what Harper was goin' on about a couple weeks ago?'

"Fallen towns are as reported: Helen, Dawson, Blue Ridge, White County, Douglasville, Dade County and King County. Evacuation from those towns are to be implemented immediately."

Daryl felt his heart drop into his stomach. Blue Ridge? Fallen towns? Non-infected? He stepped on the gas pedal as hard as he could, over-working his truck to get back to Blue Ridge where his brother and sister were still at. Had that fever gotten to them? He didn't remember much of what Lily told him and he hardly watched the news but he did recall her saying something about how the patients were going crazy. Had they all gone crazy now? Started riots or some shit?

He had left town for a small hunting trip two days ago. He thought back to the last time he had seen both his brother and sister. Neither seemed to have been sick...but now that he was thinking about it, Lily had mentioned something about their dad coming down with a cold. She had asked him to take her to the drugstore to pick up some cold medicine for him, which Daryl had reluctantly agreed to. Not because he gave a damn about his father but because Lily had begged. 

He made his way home as quickly as he could. His hunting spot was about two hours away from the town but speeding down the road as fast as he could, he covered the trip in about an hour. When he approached the town, cop cars were surrounding the entrance. He parked his truck to the side of the road, slung his crossbow around his neck and walked up to the cops, eager to get by to check on his brother and sister.

"Sir, you cannot go in there." An officer stopped him before he could pass by.

"Mike, are ya' sure he's not bit?" Another whispered to the cop stopping him.

Bit?

Daryl glanced down at his clothing to see himself covered in animal blood.

"Sir, I have to ask you, have you been bit by the infected?" The main officer asked. "I need ya' to be real honest with me right now."

Daryl's eyebrows raised in question.

"Bit? I just got back from a huntin' trip." He said slowly, confused. "Look, I don't care what ya'll say. I have to go get my brother and sister. Heard some nasty things on the radio."

"Look sir, this town is infested with the disease." The officer replied. "We got Fire Marshalls in the town lookin' for survivors right now. If they find yer brother and sister and they're still alive, they'll be sent to Atlanta. Now I suggest ya' get back in that truck of your's and head down to the city yerself."

"And I said I didn't care what ya'll said." Daryl snapped. "I'm gonna' go look for my brother and sister."

"Sir, now we will force ya' if we have to." The officer replied. "Get back in yer truck and leave. This town is infected."

"I'm not leavin' without them!" Daryl grunted.

The officer pushed towards him, angered by his behavior but one of his companions caught him with his arm.

"Mike, if the man wants to go in there and risk getting bit, just let him go." The man cut-in. "We got better things to worry 'bout."

Mike glared at Daryl but backed off, listening to his partner. Daryl didn't spare them a second look as he got back in his truck and entered the town. It was eerily quiet at first and some bodies lay covered in white sheets on the ground. A million questions ran through his mind but he didn't think too hard about them now, knowing he had to make sure Merle and Harper were okay.

Luckily his trailer wasn't too far into town. He pounded the door open, rushing inside to see Merle packing a suitcase full of clothes, tossing some other things inside with a sleeping bag and a broken-down tent next to it. When Daryl entered, he snapped around, pointing a gun in his face. Daryl held his hands up to ease him off and Merle let out a loud sigh.

"'Bout time ya' get back." He snapped. "We need to go, brother. Town went to hell. Fuckers eatin' each other and some shit. Pack yer things and let's get outta' here."

"Eatin' each other?" Daryl questioned.

"Ain't that what I said?" Merle hissed. "Go get yer shit and let's go. I'll explain on the way."

Daryl ran to his bedroom and grabbed one of the cargo bags in the closet. He unzipped it and tossed it on the bed. He grabbed all the clothing in his dresser and threw it in. He grabbed a few other of his belongings, including some rare pictures and toothbrushes and stuff. Once he had packed up as much as he could squeeze, he zipped it up and ran back into the front room.

"Where's Harper?" Daryl asked.

"At home with Tim." Merle said.

"We have to go get her." Daryl replied before going outside and tossing his bag into the bed of his truck.

Merle followed after him, throwing his stuff into Daryl's truck before pulling his bike out of the driveway. A lady caught sight of them and began walking towards them, her left ankle dragging on the floor. Her skin was a putrid grey and her irises so light, they almost blended in with the white of her eyes. She moaned and gurgled as blood dripped from a large wound of her neck.

"What the fuck is wrong with her?" Daryl shouted.

Merle responded by lifting his gun and shooting her in the head. She dropped to the ground and went silent.

"She's one of them." Was Merle's only explanation. "Now get in the car. We have to go get Lils."

Daryl didn't ask any more questions. He figured Merle would explain later and they didn't have time right now. They had to go get their little sister. Their old house was unfortunately on the other side of town. And with cars and dead bodies littering the streets, Daryl had to maneuver his car slowly around the mess. But they made it to her house within ten minutes.

Daryl jumped out of his truck and slammed the door behind him. Merle was already there; it had been easier to get around on his small motorcycle.

They both began walking up to the porch, high on guard. Merle had his gun out and Daryl had equipped his crossbow with a loaded bolt already in place. Only when they heard the scream did they begin running. Merle kicked the door down and the volume of the scream increased.

"Lily!" Merle shouted.

It was only met by another scream.

"It's comin' from upstairs." Daryl's trained eyes picked up.

The brothers ran up the stairs and pushed open the door to their father's bedroom. The sight of Lily backed against a wall with their father struggling on the floor with a broken leg met their eyes. Noticing their presence, Lily looked at them with wide, terrified eyes full of tears.

"He's-He's…" She struggled to say.

But Daryl knew exactly what she was trying to tell them. He aimed his crossbow and let the bolt release from the string. It flew for a good second before impaling their father in the skull. Merle rushed forward to grab the hyperventilating Lily by her upper arms.

"Come on, girl." He said. "Yer alright. But we gotta' go, okay?"

Lily nodded and let her brother pull her along. They made it down the stairs and out the door in record time. Merle used his free hand to shoot down two of those things by Daryl's truck. He pulled Lily along and opened the passenger side door before shoving her inside.

"Daryl will take good care of you, alright?" He reassured before closing the door.

"It's gonna' take more than a day to get to Atlanta." Daryl said.

"Head down to the ole' cabin couple hundred miles outside the city." Merle directed. "We should be able to hole up there for a few days."

Daryl nodded and got in the truck with the crying girl. He quickly revved the engine and took off. He rounded back to the entrance he had seen the cops, only two of the cars were gone. A group of the grey skinned people were hovered around something on the floor. As Daryl got closer, he could see the body of the officer who had stopped him. A few people were reaching down and grabbing at his ripped open stomach, chewing on his intestines. Daryl grimaced and looked over to his little sister.

"Don't look." He commanded, reaching over and turning her face into his shoulder. His arm muffled her sobs as her tears drenched his dirty skin.

Soon, Blue Ridge was fading from Daryl’s rearview mirror as they made it to the highway. They drove in silence for awhile, Lily’s small cries the only noise in the truck. Daryl let out a sigh as he looked over to the small girl, her head laying against the cold glass window.

“Come ‘ere.” He grunted, holding up one of his arms. 

Lily didn’t seem to think twice before she folded herself into the side of the hunter. Affection like this was rare from Daryl and Lily knew better to bring that up, knowing Daryl would withdraw the second he was uncomfortable. 

“Daddy’s dead, ain’t he?” Lily muttered, “You killed him.” 

“That thing I shot was not Will.” Daryl said, “Ya’ understand that, right?” 

Lily nodded, her hair tickling the exposed skin of his arm where it laid. 

“What’s going to happen to us, Daryl?” Lily cried, “Are we...are we going to die?”

“It’s all gonna be fine, Harper.” Daryl tried to reassure, “We’re gonna get to Atlanta and wait for the feds to deal with it. Then we’ll go home and continue on, like always.” 

“But daddy’s dead, Daryl!” Lily screeched, pulling away from her brother to look at him, “Where am I supposed to go now?” 

Daryl glowered at her for a second, annoyed with her outburst. He didn’t give a damn that Will was dead, hell, he was happy he was the one who put an arrow through his head. He couldn’t tell that to Harper though. She didn’t understand. She didn’t know who Will really was. He pinched the bridge of his nose with one hand, letting out a long sigh. He silently cursed the fact that Merle was on his bike, free to just think about their plans and not the crying teenager with them. Plus, Merle was better at this shit. Daryl didn’t know how to handle Harper and her emotions. 

“Merle and I will take care of ya’.” Daryl finally grunted, “Don’t ya’ worry about that sorta thing.” 

Lily crossed her arms, tears still pouring down her face.

“I want to go home.” She muttered. 

“Well, ya’ can’t.” Daryl snapped, still annoyed at how she was acting. 

Lily broke out into little sobs again and Daryl felt himself deflate. Yeah, he wished he could switch places with Merle right now, more than anything. 

Suddenly he felt two arms wrap around his waist as Lily pressed her head against the side of his chest, soaking his shirt with her tears. Daryl placed his hand on the top of her head, unsure of how to comfort her. 

“It’s gonna be okay, Harper.” He grumbled, “I ain’t gonna let anything happen to ya’. I mean it.” 

Silence lingered in the air after that. 

Daryl welcomed it.


	2. Obstacles

The trunk lurched to a stop as Daryl yanked the emergency break up as he parked the car before letting out a small sigh and falling back into his seat. He barely even had time to look up before Harper was storming out of the truck, the passenger door slamming shut behind her. He watched as she stormed her way up the small dirt path leading into their old family cabin. The bushes and trees around it were overgrown, vines creeping up the sides of the walls making the brown wood barely visible beneath it. Harper stopped briefly, picking up a random rock and turning it over in her hands to reveal their secret key. Daryl hopped out of the truck himself, moving to grab their bags from his truck bed as she finally opened the front door of the cabin and slammed it shut behind her.

"What the hell was that about?" Merle scoffed from next to him.

He had parked his motorcycle right in front of Daryl's truck. He reached over into the back to pull his own bag from the truck bed before flinging it over his shoulder.

"Hell if I know." Daryl grunted, strapping his crossbow behind his back.

"What did ya' say to her?" Merle asked, his dark blue eyes staring holes into the side of Daryl's face.

"Didn't say anythin'. She's been a brat the whole car ride." Daryl snapped, "Whining about this and that like I give a shit."

Merle rolled his eyes at him.

"Always did have a way with women, didn't ya;?" he barked out, sarcastically.

Daryl wasn't in the mood to entertain him, so he merely glared at him as he finished yanking their supply bags from the truck. The pair of brothers made their way after their sister. Just as they entered the cabin themselves, one of the doors down the hall was slammed shut.

Merle let out a groan as he heaved his bags onto the floor, "I'll go see what's up her ass."

Merle disappeared down the hall as Daryl shrugged his own bags onto the couch in the living area. He wasn't too concerned with Harper right now, they had bigger things to worry about. It had only been a few weeks since he had been out here to this cabin, so he knew there was bound to be supplies left over from his last hunting trip. He figured it was more important for him to start taking inventory of all the things they had so they were prepared for their trip to Atlanta. More important than trying to figure out why some teeny bopper was angry. He let out air from his nose as he stared down the hallway. He could barely make out Merle's voice behind the closed door leading into the small bedroom that had always belonged to Harper.

The cabin itself wasn't that big. Just the living area, small kitchen, master bedroom and a tiny storage closet that had been turned into Harper's bedroom when she was born. Merle had always said it was important for a lady to have her own space, away from the men. Daryl scoffed at that thought, as if Merle was concerned about any woman. Merle could give a rats ass about women in general besides using them for a quick fuck. Harper was different though, she was Dixon blood. That made her royalty in Merle and their father's eyes.

Daryl decided to preoccupy himself with going through the kitchen cabinets, pulling out any cans he found and setting them on the small table. Harper had been nagging at him the entire car ride and he was frankly tired of listening to her complain. He wasn't used to being around kids, much less moody teenage girls. Despite it all, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt gnawing at the back of his brain as he thought about her teary eyes as she had stormed from the truck.

**

Lily was curled up on the small, twin sized mattress inside her room. The ugly red plaid bedding was causing her head to throb as the black lines twisted and combined with each other because of the tears filling up her eyes. She was still in shock at the events that happened in less than 24 hours. One minute she was preparing for her first day of freshman year, eager and excited to finally be going to highschool and the next minute, her dad was dead, killed by her own brother and she was evacuating the small town she had known her whole life.

She held her head in her hands, pressing her palms against her eyes as if she were trying to push her thoughts from her mind. The scene of her father crawling after her, his eyes wide with hunger as he desperately tried to chomp down on her leg until a single bolt pierced him through his eye, causing him to fall limp to the ground, keep replaying over and over again in her head. And she was so confused. Her daddy was just sick. He had caught the flu that had been going around. She even remembered watching the news about it. If it was just a flu, then there was probably medicine for it or something. But now it was too late. Her dad was dead. Dead. Gone.

More tears rolled down her small face.

The door to the very small room opened and Merle hovered in the doorway for a second. Lily's cold blue eyes turned up to him.

"Get out." She snapped at her older brother.

Merle did the opposite by entering the room and closing the door behind him.

"I said, get out!" Lily yelled, now unraveling herself to sit up to fully turn in his direction.

"Don't ya' holler at me." Merle snarled, "I ain't like Daryl, alright, I'll pop ya' in the mouth if I have too."

Lily knew that was far from just a threat. She glared at him before turning her body away from her, staring holes into the poster hanging on the far left wall. It was a map of Georgia with tiny illustrations marking every major city. Her eyes glossed over the small drawing of the Georgia Capitol Museum that marked Atlanta.

She felt the bed dip down behind her, the weight of Merle causing the small bed to creak.

"What're ya' cryin' about?" Merle asked.

Lily scoffed, "Daddy's dead. You guys never gave a crap about him though, so I shouldn't be surprised that ya' don't seem to care."

She felt Merle's hand dig into her upper arm as he whirled her around to look at him.

"Ey, common' Lils, I know ya' aint dumb." Merle snapped, "Ya' know damn well why me and yer brother don't care one bit about that ole' man.

Lily softened at his words. She had always known somewhere in the back of her head that her dad had been different to her compared to her brothers. She had caught onto it at some point around the age of seven. Merle and Daryl made themselves scarce when it came to her father. In fact, she was pretty sure she had never even seen all three of them in the same room together…not that she could remember. Merle had always had his own trailer on the other side of town and by the time she had memories of her own, Daryl had always stayed with him. The only acknowledgement the two brothers had even given their dad had always revolved around her.

By the time she was ten, she had an idea of why things were the way they were with her family. She had accidently caught Daryl once without his shirt on one early morning. She had seen the scars. She knew better to ask him about them though. But that didn't stop her from asking Merle about it. It was probably the one and only time Merle had even gone quiet when prompted to speak. He just gave her this look…such a heavy expression in his eyes. And Merle was right, she wasn't stupid. She knew then what those scars meant. She never brought it up again.

"Tim might've been good to ya', but he wasn't no saint, alright." Merle said, "Now, we gotta big day tomorrow. No more pussy shit, ya' hear me? Time for ya' to grow up."

Merle ruffled up her hair before exiting the small room, grumbling under his breath on the way out. Finally alone, Lily laid back down on the small mattress and slowly cried herself to sleep.

**

The next morning, she awoke to Merle pounding on her door, yelling at her to wake up.

"Get up, Lils!" He shouted, "We got shit to do!"

She rolled her eyes at his voice, still mildly annoyed at both her brothers for how well they seemed to be handling the world falling apart. She blinked the sleep out of her eyes as she laid still for a moment, not eager to begin the day. She slowly removed herself from under the warm covers, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. She stood up to stretch and was surprised when there was another knock against her door.

"I'm up, Merle!" She grumbled.

"It's me." A softer voice answered her back.

She faltered when she heard Daryl's voice. She had said some pretty awful things to Daryl yesterday during the ride to the cabin. She had been so distraught by not only their dad's death, but watching her own brother be the one to murder him. And for the most part, Daryl had just sat there staring blankly out to the road, taking on her onslaught of verbal abuse. At the time, that had only made her angrier. But now after an exhausting night of crying in between periods of sleep, she couldn't help but think back on yesterday with a heart full of regret.

Lily slowly pushed the door open to see Daryl standing on the other side, a small bag in his hands and his eyes cast downward.

"I grabbed ya' some stuff from the house yesterday on our way out." He said, his quiet voice a stark difference from her other brother, "Figured ya' might need some things since we don't know how long this shits gonna' last."

In the chaos that had occured yesterday, Lily hadn't even realized that Daryl had stopped to grab her things for her before they had taken off. In fact, the events right after her dad's death were still fuzzy in her memory. The only image that she could recall was the arrow from Daryl's crossbow piercing her dad straight through his eye.

She took the bag from his hands and their eyes met for just a second. Merle's eyes were a light blue, his hair also a light blonde. But Daryl had always looked more a brother to Lily with his sandy blonde hair that matched hers and his dark blue eyes. Despite them only being half siblings, Merle had always told Lily that she looked exactly like Daryl when they were both babies. She had never been able to verify that information herself because there were no pictures of Daryl as a child.

"Thanks." She muttered as Daryl turned away from her, "Hey, Daryl, wait-"

He didn't even turn around, just disappeared around the corner of the hallway. Lily closed her door and sighed as she leaned against it. She wanted to apologize to Daryl for yesterday but just thinking about it caused all her words to jumble up in her throat.

The Dixon's had never been good at communicating their feelings.

It wasn't long before the three Dixon siblings were confined with each other in the small living room. Daryl and Lily both shared a look of confusion as Merle continued to mumble to himself under his breath before disappearing into the backyard. He reappeared in seconds, holding two shovels in his hands. He tossed one to both of the siblings.

"What the hell do we need a shovel for?" Lily asked, glaring at Merle as she fumbled to catch the shovel last minute.

"Watch yer mouth." Merle barked at her, "I left some guns buried out in the back awhile ago, ya' know, just in case. I jus' don't remember where I put 'em. So ya' guys are gonna help ole' Merle find them."

He grinned at them as if they were going to praise him for his preparedness.

"Well don't keep standing there like a bunch of idiots." He snapped when neither sibling moved from their spot, "We gots' a lot of work to do."

Daryl huffed but nonetheless followed his older brother outside. While he was annoyed that Merle couldn't remember where he buried these mysterious guns, he couldn't deny that having guns right now would benefit them. He only had one piece on him right now, same with Merle. It wouldn't hurt to have more, just in case.

Lily hesitantly followed them out as well, holding up her free hand to block the incoming sun.

"What if those...things are out here?" She asked, a hint of fear behind her voice.

"Ain't no one around for miles, girl." Merle said, "If those geeks made it up here, well, best start digging because we're gonna' need those guns."

Lily rolled her eyes at the back of her oldest brother but started digging anyways. She didn't need another lecture by Merle or a scolding.

"How do you forget where ya' buried guns, anyways?" Lily grumbled under her breath just loud enough for only Daryl to hear her.

He bit back a smirk at her annoyance but didn't dare to speak up in front of Merle.

And so it began. For the next two hours, the three siblings continued digging random holes in the yard, trying desperately to find Merle's cache. The heavy Georgia sun was beating down on them, sweat rolling down their faces. The air was slick and humid and the only noise filling the space was the occasional grunt from them heaving dirt up and over their shoulders.

**

Lily groaned as her arm started to ache for the millionth time. She paused her digging to lean against the shovel for a moment, brushing the sweat off her forehead. She let out a long breath as she watched both her brothers pound into the dirt with their shovels.

"We've been at this for hours, Merle." Lily complained, "Are ya' sure you even buried guns in the first place?"

"Quit yer yabbin'" Merle glared up at her from his shovel, "Ya' think I'm just out here diggin' holes for fun?"

"I don't know what goes on in your crazy mind." Lily snapped back, "I'm tired of this. I think if those guns were here, we would've found 'em by now!"

"Hey Harper, knock it off." Daryl snarled at her. He could see the familiar look clouding over Merle's face. One he often saw when he was on the ends of his older brother's fist. Lily had always been good at testing Merle's patience but now was not the time. They were all on edge and things had been tense since the dead started walking. It was only a matter of time before Merle snapped and Daryl didn't want to see Lily getting the brunt of it.

When Lily started to open her mouth again, her small face twisted in frustration, Daryl tossed some dirt at her from his shovel, causing her to step back and gasp as the dirt covered the bottom of her jeans.

"Shut up and dig." He growled at her, "The faster we find these guns, the sooner we can get the hell outta here."

Lily focused her glare at him but headed his veiled warning and began to dig again.

**

When Daryl heard the hollow sound of his shovel hitting something, he could feel a bit of relief in the back of his head. His arms were aching from all the digging and at this point of the day, the sun was high in the sky, making the air around them hotter than ever.

Both Merle and Lily's heads whipped around at the noise. The shovel fell from Merle's hand as he stalked over to the hole Daryl had been working on. Lily bounded over as well, kneeling down next them. Daryl used the back of his shovel to scratch the dirt off the surface, exposing a medium sized wooden box.

"Wowwee!" Merle cheered as he leaned forward to yank the box free, placing it on the leveled ground next to them. He wiped the remaining dirt off of it before picking it up and beginning to walk back towards the house.

"Hey!" Lily called out, jumping up to following him with Daryl trailing on her heels, "Aren't ya' gonna show us the guns?"

"Mind yer business, girl!" Merle yelled out, waving a hand at her as he disappeared from view, crossing into the house.

Lily quickened her pace to catch up to him and she busted into the living room.

"I want to see the guns." She breathed out as she caught her breath from her sprint.

"These guns are for me and yer brother, alright." Merle brushed her off again, "Ain't none of yer concern."

"Bullshit." Lily glared, "You guys always let me have a gun when we would go huntin'."

Daryl, who was finally catching up to the pair, looked between his two siblings. He reached out and grabbed Lily by her upper arm.

"Come on now, Harper." He said, "Ya' gotta trust us to take care of ya'."

Lily shrugged out of his grip, "No, I've been digging for hours with you guys! I deserve to have one of the guns too!"

"Since when did ya' become such an entitled brat?" Merle snapped at her, "Git on out of here! Go to yer room!"

Daryl could see the vein twitching in Merle's forehead and could tell things were heading in a bad direction.

"Lily, come on." Daryl tried again, but she ignored him.

Instead in a quick moment, the small girl had darted forward to try and yank the box from Merle's hands. The older man clinged onto it and a small scuffle began and ended quickly as the box fell to the floor and busted open. Two large baggies of crystal meth bounced onto the floor and a single pistol clattered loudly against the wood. For a brief second, the room went so quiet, Daryl was certain he could hear his own heart pounding in his chest.

"Are you serious?" Lily screamed.

Merle quickly bent down to scoop the baggies back into the box.

"You had us outside in the sun for hours digging for fucking drugs!" Lily continued to yell, "I can't believe you! You useless piece of shit!"

The crack of the back of Merle's hand meeting Lily's cheek startled Daryl. His little sister crumbled to the floor, hand reaching to cover the place Merle had just hit. She stared up at her oldest brother in a moment of shock, which was soon replaced by fear. Tears started to fill her cobalt eyes and she quickly hopped up from the floor and ran down the hall. The slam of a door snapped Daryl out of his own shock.

Merle continued to put the contents back in the box before slamming in shut.

"What the hell was that for?" Daryl snapped at his brother, "Why did you hit her?"

"Don't be testing my patience anymore, boy." Merle barked out, "That brat needs to learn when to keep her mouth shut. I warned her."

Daryl peered at his brother closely, their eyes meeting in a battle of dominance for a minute before Daryl looked away. This behavior wasn't out of the usual. Merle had been on and off drugs for as long as Daryl could remember. Hell, he was usually the one in Lily's spot. Only Merle would beat the shit out of him, not slap him around. Still though, Merle had never raised a hand to Lily before. Daryl let out a long sigh as Merle disappeared down the hallway as well.

**

Lily sat at the end of her bed, staring into the tiny mirror hanging from the wall. Her eyes were still a bit swollen and red from crying. She tilted her head slightly to look at the cheek Merle had struck. There was a faint pink mark from his hand. She touched it gingerly and winced at the sting of pain she felt.

Her stomach was still in knots. She had always known Merle had a hot temper. There were many times she had come to Daryl's aid after a few particularly nasty fights when he was so beat up, he could barely open his own eyes. But Merle had never touched a hair on her head. No, this time was different. Usually, she would just stay clear of Merle whenever he was in one of his moods. This time, she had pushed at his buttons until he had snapped.

She let out a sigh and fell back down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Her mind was conflicted at the emotions coursing through her. On one hand, she was angry that they had spent all morning digging stupid holes just so Merle could get high. On the other hand, she felt guilty that she had yelled at her older brother when she should've just let things be.

A small quiet knock on her door startled her out of her thoughts. She sat up for a moment, contemplating if she even wanted to answer it. She was not in the mood to talk to either of her brothers.

"Harper." Daryl's quiet voice called out from the other side of the door.

Lily begrudgingly got up and opened the door.

Daryl stood in front of her, an indescribable emotion floating in his eyes. He held something out to her and she glanced down. A worn and faded forest green backpack dangled from his fingers by one of it's straps. She instantly recognized it.

"My old camping backpack." She muttered, "Where did ya' find that?"

"In the garage, under some junk." Daryl grunted as he pushed the backpack into her hands.

She clung onto it.

"Come on." Daryl said, jutting his chin down the hallway, "Need some help huntin'."

Lily raised an eyebrow at him. Daryl definitely didn't need help hunting. She glanced at him closely for a moment, but he failed to meet her gaze.

"Alright." She shrugged, following him down the hall and out the door.

She strapped her old backpack to herself as Daryl and her ventured outside and down a small dirt path leading into the woods behind their family's old cabin. Once enclosed in the trees, the canopy provided a nice shade that felt nice against her own burning skin. Daryl was as quiet as he usually was. Her own footsteps were louder than his as they trampled over the fallen leaves. Normally, he would already be barking at her to keep quiet. However, he kept his eyes trained forward, not even looking for animal tracks in the dirt.

Lily didn't question him though. It was nice to be out of the cabin for a minute and surrounded by the trees. The soft sounds of buzzing insects and birds chirping soothed her nerves. She had always cherished moments like this when her brothers would take her on some of their hunting trips. As she got older and Merle disappeared for a while, the trips happened less and less. Sometimes Daryl would take her, just the two of them. But that was a rare occurrence.

She wasn't sure how long they walked for. But it wasn't long before she realized they weren't going to be doing any hunting. Daryl didn't stop once to try and track anything. Instead he kept forward, following the small dirt trail. She didn't mind that he had lied to her. There was a reason he had brought her out here but Daryl wasn't the type of person to tell her that sort of thing. Instead he would just pretend to go about doing his business as per usual.

Finally, after a good hour of walking, Daryl suddenly diverged off the path.

"Come on." He muttered to her and she trailed after him.

They walked for another fifteen minutes before they stumbled upon a small creek. Daryl began to follow the creek downstream with Lily on his heels. The gentle babbling noise of the water tumbling over rocks down it's path filled the air. She could spot tiny tadpoles swimming about as she toed along the edge of the creek. A large frog croaked from its spot on a rock, sunbathing next to the water.

Suddenly Daryl came to a stop in front of her. The rushing of the water falling down the rocks told her they were standing at the edge of a small waterfall. Daryl yanked the strap of his crossbow over his head before placing it on the rock to the side of them. He then began his descent down the rocks. Once he was at the bottom, he reached up and grabbed the crossbow and gestured for Lily to climb down the rocks herself. She tightened her backpack around herself and then slowly made her way down to her brother.

"Figured we could take a break here." Daryl muttered.

Lily nodded at him and took a seat on one of the big rocks surrounding the small pool of water that came to a stop under the waterfall. She closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the peaceful sounds of the woods and creek. This was Daryl's way of comforting her after the events that had happened earlier, she was sure of it. She glanced over at her older brother for a moment. He was walking near the treeline, scooting dirt around with his shoes. She smiled at his back as a feeling of gratitude filled her. She watched him for a few moments before pulling her backpack in front of her.

She couldn't remember the last time she had used this backpack and was curious what was still inside of it. She unzipped it and dumped its contents onto the rock to take inventory.

The first thing that caught her eyes was a dark grey baseball cap with the large word, Tallulah, embroidered on it. She smiled as the memory of the time Merle and Daryl had taken her to Tallulah Gorge State Park for a camping trip flooded her mind. She brushed her hair with her hands before placing the cap on her head. It still fit, luckily. She must've been eight or nine when Daryl had bought this memento for her at the gift shop on their way back home. The next item that caught her eye was a silver compass. She fiddled with it for a second, pointing it in the direction Daryl was standing. When the dial pinged North, she casted it aside.

A pair of over the ear headphones was amongst the pile of stuff, as well as an old tube of chapstick. A bright red, first-aid kit was sitting next to an old pair of sunglasses and a half filled water bottle. She put those things back into the bag. Left on the rock was a narrow book. The cover was heavily faded, signifying its age.

She picked it up carefully and wiped a bit of dust from the cover as she read the words:

_'Butterflies of Georgia: Field Guide' by Jaret C. Daniels_

"Had that book since ya' were about this tall." Daryl's voice caught her attention. He was standing in front of her now, gesturing to a height that came to his midcalf, "Use to love chasing butterflies around. Merle got ya' that book when ya' started naming each one ya' saw."

"I remember." Lily said, softly.

"Use to be yer mission to find every single type of butterfly from that book." Daryl said, "Use to make us stop each time ya' saw a new one to make sure ya' marked it down in the book that ya' saw it."

Lily opened the book to a random page. There was a picture of a butterfly with long black wings that had tiny spots of yellow in a distinct pattern. The name of it listed above the picture, Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes). A small, handwritten note was underneath. She recognized her own messy writing, _'Saw this one March 14th, Cloudland Canyon ~ Lily Harper Dixon'._

She continued to fumble through the pages, noting every time one had her signature next to it with the date and place she had seen the butterfly. There were only about ten entries. Most of the butterflies had gone unseen or maybe she had given up at some point and forgot about it. She closed the book shut and ran her fingers over the cover. There was a large blue butterfly on the front of the book, resting against some pretty white lily flowers. She glanced back up at Daryl only to find he had resumed his position walking along the treeline.

She sat still, basking in this moment. She had so many good memories thanks to her brothers. It was the only thing she had left to hold onto now that the world seemed to be ending. Just as she was about to put the book back into her backpack, movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. She nearly let out a gasp as a butterfly slowly flew down and landed perfectly still on the book in her hands. It was big and brown, with tiger stripes close to the base of its wings and some eyelike spots on the outer edges of it. The top wing was half yellow with a blue oval imprinted on it. As soon as it came, it was gone. Lily watched as it flew right over Daryl's head and back into the woods.

She opened the book again, flipping through the pages until she saw a picture that looked just like the butterfly she just saw. Over the picture was the words, 'Common Wood-Nymph (Cercyonis pegala). She reached into the front pocket of the backpack and cheered internally as she found a small pen. She wrote right under the name of the butterfly, like her other entries, _'Saw this one October 22, Talking Rock ~ Lily Harper Dixon'_. She was pleased to see her handwriting looked a lot nicer comparatively.

"Ready to head back?" Daryl asked from his place near the trees. Lily smiled softly as she closed the book and placed it back into the bag before zipping it shut. She stood up and brushed the dirt from the back of her pants before jumping off the rock. She nodded to answer Daryl's question and the pair took off, making their way back to the family cabin.

The air was serene around them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoy this one! I had a lot of fun writing it. Let me know your thoughts and opinions :) Also, do you guys want to see reference pictures for the story? So you can visualize Lily and stuff?

**Author's Note:**

> First chapter ! I hope you guys like it!Just to be clear on ages, for my story: Merle is in his 40s, Daryl is 30 and Lily is 15. If you’re here, thanks for reading ! Please feel free to drop a comment and let me know your thoughts !


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